Before I go jacking up the rear end of my car, can anyone tell me if the universal joints have grease fittings from the factory?

 

I have never seen a grease fitting on a factory thirdgen u-joint.

If the u-joints have ever been replaced, they may have grease fittings.

 

Some do and some don't. I had new U-joints installed in my '84 driveshaft and they are sealed units...

 

Factory ones did not. (would have cost an extra $0.078 or something per car and done the factory no good) Not in these cars or any others I've ever seen. Many replacement ones do butt by no means all. Some people think that having the trunnion cross-drilled for them makes them weeeeeeeker. That attitude seems kinda self-short-shooting to me, butt w/e.

Factory ones in our cars are held in by an injected plastic ring, in a groove around both the caps and the yokes. Easiest way to get them apart is with heat (melt it); you can usually tell you've got it hot enough because the plastic will start to bubble out of the hole they injected it through. Once the plastic is melted they usually come out without too much of a fight. Be careful not to get so enthusiastic beating on things that you bend the "ears" of the yokes in. Replacement ones use a kind of snap ring instead of the plastic deal. You'll find that they are often a poor fit to factory yokes because the yokes aren't machined for them, for the same reason that they don't have zerks.

 

Tkx guys for the info. I was told by ans old racer that having grease reduced the strength of the universals. Yes or no?
Like the Ford Pintos gas tanks taking fire in a rear ender. Would have cost Ford 75 cents to solve that problem.
The actuaries determined that it would be less costly to pay the lawsuits than to repair every Pinto.

 

I believe someone already addressed this myth:

Referring of course to grease FITTINGS, not GREASE itself. In order for a single grease fitting to grease all 4 bearings without disassembly, the trunnion has to be drilled all the way through with 2 holes at right angles to each other, and an additional drill of some sort usually, to screw a zerk into. While it might be true that the passages reduce the amount of metal in the trunnion, I have NEVER in all my days seen a U-joint fail by breaking there, not even at the drag strip. Especially considering that that's not the weakest part of the whole system, to begin with; the yoke ears usually are. THOSE, I've seen break.

Seems kinda short-sighted to simultaneously fall for that myth with one brain cell, and ignore the near impossibility of keeping it lubricated, with the other. ESPECIALLY in a street-driven car, in which WEAR is the thing that necessitates replacement 100% of the time, not BREAKAGE. Doesn't make much sense to deliberately choose a bearing setup that can't be periodically lubricated (or at least, make it so difficult, that it's almost certain never to be done) in that situation.

It's a myth. At least, in all cases except the most extreme imaginable short-term abuse; and even then, doubtful.

The Pinto gas tank thing was where a "feature" on the rear axle housing, could puncture the gas tank in a hard rear-end wreck. Not remotely related to poor replacement parts choices based on myths and legends.

The factory's choice of parts for new vehicles is (a) driven by their own cost arithmetic, and (b) NOT driven by the cost to the poor yutz that eventually has to replace it. No reason to inflict that same short-sightedness on yourself. Penny wise and pound foolish, as they say.